ESCAPE Children of the Holocaust

1-12 FIRST ENTRY 3/21/11
David Wolkowitz lives at an orphanage with many other kids who lost their parents. He has a really good friend named Joel, but if they stick together they may not make it through the night. David and Joel hear this strange noise outside. So they both decide to run away. They decide to go their seperate ways because people would think that its really strange to have two boys walking on the streets by themselves. David's goal is to get pass the Switzerland border so he won't have to hide anymore. Once he gets up to the mountain, there is some tragic news waiting for him. The Germans have guarded the whole place. So he turns around. On his way back he meets up with his friend, Joel. Joel had lost his fingers in an exploding piece of metal he was holding that the Germans had set up. So David says his goodbyes and meets up with his parents, Regina and Abraham, so they can try to get to France. Abraham took the train first and told them he would call them, but he never did. So Regina and David got on and when they got off, the Germans set bombs off blowing up the whole train station. Regina and David were sent to a concentration camp where they had to sleep in a barn filled with hay.
WORDS
Resonated- to resound back and forth
Ominous- to threaten
Summoned- to call upon
Mustering- to assemble
Sympathizing- to share in feeling
13-24 SECOND ENTRY 3/21/11
David went to the church to talk to the priest so he could do something. He was a messenger for the Resistance. Once David was walking on the street to deliver a message, German soldiers came to take him away. He knew that if he spoke German, they would figure out that he's a Jew. So he spoke French. He finally got away when the Germans heard a screaming noise in the woods. After that he had to say goodbye to his parents. His dad, Abraham, and his mom, Regina, finally went there seperate ways. David was given his dad's violin. Before he had to say goodbye to hsi parents, his identity was changed to Daniel Dumont. After David said goodbye to his parents, he contacted the American Red Cross to see if his parents were still alive. So they came to the orphanage and told him that they died in Auschwitz of 1942. His grandparents were killed in Warsaw ghetto to. It didn't surprise him. After he got to America, with the help of his Uncle Leo, he got married to Maryanne and he is still apart of the Holocaust Commission.
WORDS
Dysentery- Infectious disease
Toiling- hard, continuous work
Notoriously- generally known
Malnourishment- don't eat enough
Armament- arming for war
25-37 THIRD ENTRY 3/24/11
Alicia Jurman was a 13 year old girl who didn't want her mother or her brother to be taken away, so she risked her life for them. The Germans came to her house and asked for Frieda Jurman. Alicia was dressed as her mother, and she said I am Freida Jurman. So they took her away to a police station. She had to get her thumbprint stamped. The officer was a father of one of her friends and he told her that she shouldn't be here and when the Germans come, get on your knees and beg for your life. She didn't listen. So when the Germans came, the officer smacked several times for not obeying his order. She was taken away. Alicia was taken to a prison 20 miles nearby Chortkov, Poland. At the prison, people were sent outside to be attacked by two snarling dogs. A guard came in and offered them some water, but it was contaminated. After that, she went into a coma. She woke up two weeks later and Mrs. Gold and Mr. Gold were taking care of her. As soon as she was better, they helped her escape. She hid under a hay pile on a peasants sleigh. As soon as she arrived home, her mother and brother were very sick in bed. Her friend, Milek, gave her a ring so she could rememeber him. Alicia had to go to Kopechince because that's where Milek went. When Alicia had to get in line for her death march, she heard a canon fire and Milek was behind it. He told her to run away and she did. She didn't know what happened to him, but she didn't think that he had made it. Alicia went back to her home to see her mother and brother again, and get her ring back. She found her friend Lala and Lala's two cousins. They both went into hiding together because they didn't know if the Germans would come for them or not.
WORDS
Bleak- very desolate
Collaborate- to cooperate with and enemy nation
Deportation- to be taken away
Backpedaling- to step backwards with force
Prods- to poke
38-50 FOURTH ENTRY 4/3/11
Alicia went back to the area where she hid the ring that Milek had given her. As soon as she put the ring on, her friend Lala and her two cousins stopped by. Josek,one of Lala's cousins, told her to give the ring to him or he would tell where Alicia is hiding. After a while she gave it to him. Alicia spent her time working as a peasant girl and trying to hide her face because she wanted to make it look like she would pass up for a 17 year old. After a little while of working, Alicia saw an elderly man whom people thought he was possessed by demons. There she stayed with her mom and eight other Jewish children. One day the elderly man came up to her with tragic news. Her brother Herzl had been shot and was killed. A couple days later, there was a knock on the door and everyone ran screaming into a secret hiding place. Alicia answered the door. There were six young men there staying straight at her. They were demanding where are you hiding the Jews. One of them she recognized which was Pietro. He was saying why are you hiding with the Jews. She told him that she is a Jew and then they all turned around and walked away. Alicia wanted to know what happened to her father one day. She asked a Jewish man. He said that they were lining up getting ready to be shot but he escaped and it turned into a flood of everybody running. He said he was the only one that escaped but there was also some guy who was running and got shot in the back and he described him, and it was her papa. A couple weeks later they found out that they were free. The Jews could now walk out into the streets without worrying about getting killed. But it didn't last long. The Russians started to bomb the town of where Alicia was in. Alicia and her mom stepped into the street and everybody was screaming and trying to escape. Alicia's mom got shot in the leg and couldn't run. A couple of days Alicia was nursing her mom. As soon as they heard a knock on the door they both stepped outside and her mom took a bullet for her. Now the gun again was pointed at Alicia and all she heard was a click. The gun had run out of bullets. They took her to a meadow and line up. She met her friend's brother Eva a little earlier and had a plan for them. To run to the river and climb into the tree which was under water. Eva didn't go with but Alicia escaped. After a while she fled to a barn and slept there.
WORDS
Bunker- a box
Ravine- narrow steep sided valley
Annexed- to attach
Epiliptic- person who has continuous seizures
Befriended- become friendly
51-63 FIFTH ENTRY 4/5/11
Alicia later found out that her friend,Milek, had been shot and hadn't survived. Today she goes around schools and different places teaching about the Holocaust.
NEXT CHAPTER
Judi and her mom Mina, her sister Rachel, and her dad Abe, had been packing for the ghetto. The Germans came to their house and told them to hurry up and they yanked on Mina's hair and pushed her to the floor. Once in the ghetto, Judi met a guy who helped Jews get food from the black market. He made a hole in the barb wire fence with his pliers so she was able to get in and out. She would hide loaves of bread anywhere she could. Once she got caught with some under her arm and was beaten down to the ground and she was told that if i ever see you smuggling food into here, you will be executed. Judi and her mom and sister spent time working for the army. After a while, a German soldier approached them and said that they have to move out and that they will go to Germany. Most Jews did not believe them and tried to run bot where shot. The other ones hid behind bushes. Judi and her family listened and went to Germany.
WORDS
Callousness- hard
Deliberate- to examine
Ratcheted- always constant; uneven
Nixed- to refuse
Convoy- to escort
64-76 SIXTH ENTRY 4/7/11
While Judi was in the prison, she oftened daydreamed about being in a happy place and thought about the war if it wouldn't of happened. She had to share a room with inmates shared by lice, rats, and diseases. Judi and her mom were sent to the gas chamber. The man told Judi to run away, and she didn't hestitate to do so. She didn't want to leaver her mom but she had to. Judi said goodbye to her mom then ran away knowing that it would be the last time she ever seen her mom again. After she ran away, she visited her very ill sister, Rachel. She stayed with her for a little bit but then walked outside. Judi walked by the barb wire fence and a man threw a rock at her with a note. The note said, "Hold on. The war will end soon." After she read it, a guard seen her with it. She decided to eat the paper. The guard asked her where is the paper. Judi told him that she ate it because she was hungry. After she said that, the guard started beating her up. He ordered everyone to go inside and to leave the girl. Rachel came and took Judi back to where she was staying. After that, the girls had to walk the death march. It was snowing when they were walking to. After a while of walking, bombs were dropped. So everyone started running away and guards started to shoot some of them. Judi and Rachel managed to escape and stay in the ditch. They decided to change their names. Judi's new name was Utta and Rachel's new name was Anna. They stayed at a Catholic Church. There nuns fed them and gave them new clothing. The nuns found out that they were Jewish, so they wanted to baptize them Catholic so they could survive. Judi and Rachel didn't want to be baptized Catholic, so they decided to run away. So they stayed with one women and the women was not pleasant at all. She ordered them around like slaves and was very abusive to them to.
WORDS
Nasturtiums- trumpet shaped spurred flowers
Barrack- buildings for holding soldiers
Crematorium- where people are cremated
Artillery- missle launchers
Convent- people devoted to religious life
77-89 SEVENTH ENTRY 4/11/11
Mrs. Arenstein acted like a totally different person at church. She was nice in front of people there. And once they would leave, she would act really mean towards Judi and Rachel. One day, she told Judi to get some stuff for her out in the garden. When Judi was out there, she saw a wounded German soldier. She went over to him and wrapped her apron around him to stop the bleeding. Her sister Rachel cam over there and she asked why she was helping them. There enemys. Judi said i know, but he needs help. He's a human being. As soon as they started to help him, bombs started to fall down. Every child in the house that Judi and Rachel lived in for now with Mrs. Arenstein, had died. The only people that were alive was Judi, Rachel, and Mrs. Arenstein. So they had decided to leave the country. They took a boat and when they got on, another bombing attack was happening. So Rachel and Judi jumped from the boat into the freezing water. They reached a plank, and a little while after, sailors saw them, and so they took them into a gymanasium. They were fed there and they stayed there for four years. Judi now goes around in schools talking about the horrible tragedys that she had faced.
NEXT CHAPTER
Halina Litman was a nine year old girl who lived in Zaleszczyki. Her dad was arrested because the Germans thought he was a spy. They wanted to warn everybody about the Germans, so they came up with a plan to tell their neighbors. As soon as they got to their neighbors' house, the Germans were coming.
WORDS
Freighter- ship or aircraft to transport cargo
Hoax- not real
Dumbfounded- to amaze in a way
Atrocity- a circumstance
Bribery- process of giving or taking bribes
90-102 EIGHTH ENTRY 4/12/11
Halina's mom went outside with Halina's younger sister, Ewa. They were going outside to go see what was happening. When her mom and her younger sister came back, they didn't have good news. Halina was scared to death on what was going on. So they decided to go on a train. They pretended that they were German. Halina was lucky because she had blonde hair and green eys. So in a way she looked more German than Jewish. When they went on the train, they started to talk to a man. Halina's mom promised that they wouldn't give out any personal information. Like the fact that they were Jewish. So the man asked them what religion they were. They told him that they were German. He didn't believe them, so he asked again. It took a while for them to spill. They finally told him that they were Jewish. He responded by saying, "I thought so." So then they asked him what he was. He told him that he was Volksdeutsche. They then were scared to death. Halina's mom started to sob. He said that he is 100% with the Nazi party. Halina was scared to death. He told them that he is going to have to take them to the Gestapo. So when they got off the train, he took them to the gestapo. Halina and her mom were begging that he wouldn't do this. Her mom said just let Ewa and Halina go, but Halina didn't want to leave her mom. The guy didn't listen until Halina's mom said one more thing. She said, "What if this was your kid. How would you feel?"
WORDS
Coaxing- to persuade
Strain- to injure in a way
Recoiled- to draw back
Perplexed- very complicated
Pondered- to consider something deeply
103-115 NINTH ENTRY 4/17/11
The guard decided to let the Halina, her mom, and her little sister go. Halina had to do household chores because she lived with Mrs. Peszke and her family. Mrs. Peszke was kind enough to give Halina's family a home. One day, Halina's mom decided to join the German military camp so they would have a less chance of getting killed. She had to show them their documents which were fake. After a couple weeks, she was able to get the job. She ended up working in the kitchen which was good for her because she could sneak food for her family. So one night, Halina woke up to this huge bang that she heard. The roof partially collasped on them. Halina's hand was badly injured. Half of her pinky was missing and her thumb was dangling. She was taken to the hospital immediately where she had to stay there for two months. Once she got out, she was reunited with her whole family this time. It was her, her little sister, her mom, and her dad this time. Once they got together, the war had moved to another area so they were able to get back home freely. Halina now speaks to school groups about her experience through the Holocaust.
NEXT CHAPTER
Eddie and his brother, Israel, were getting ready for he march. As soon as Eddie found his mother, he was struck across the head and was told that if you talk again, you will die. So he didn't speak after that. Once they got where they needed to go, everybody ws begging for water. Finally, the guards got a firetruck and sprayed everybody. When Eddie was looking for his mother, he came across his aunt and she had told him that his uncle was dead.
WORDS
Strewn- to let fall in separate pieces
Gruesome- causing great horror
Unquenchable- to extinguish
Callously- very hard
Distraught- deeply agitated
116-128 TENTH ENTRY 4/18/11
Eddie and his brother Israel were crammed into the boxcars. Everyone was suffocating from lack of air and it was very over crowded. The first boxcar that they were put into, was way to full for them. Some passengers often jumped. So they switched boxcars. The ran over everybody's head and somehow managed to get to another boxcar. After they got off, they had to get rid of all the dead bodies. Eddie and Israel worked at the camp and they jsut put the bodies into the trenches that they had. A guard approached Eddie and shot him in the chest. Israel took him to a loft where they stayed. Soon after that, they decided to go into a barn area and hide under piles of clothes and hay. Israel told him that he would bring water back for Eddie, but he never returned. Eddie met a friend there named Julke. Eddie was making a plan to escape. He asked Julke to come to but Julke said that he wasn't in good enough condition. Eddie went out searching for his brother. He met up with another friend named Gelandia. He said that his brother was killed. After a couple days, they made a plan to escape with another boy, Michael. They went into the boxcars and hid under clothes. They were heading south from Treblinka which was where they were at. They all decided to jump out the windows and ran into the woods. They met up with this farmer who said that the SS officers were in the next town. Eddie had just remembered that his father didn't live to far from there. So he went to go see his father. They both cried in each others arms and they started talking about what had happened. One night, they heard noises from outside their home. So they ran into a field and were trapped by soldiers. They managed to escape from there.
WORDS
Ushered- taken by a soldier
Locomotive- individual railroad cars
Charred- to burn or reduce
Bolster- uphold
Genocide- deliberate and systematic extermination of a group
129-141 ELEVENTH ENTRY 4/23/11
Eddie and his father went into town and were confronted by soldiers. Eddie's father asked who they were and they said that they were the Russian army, Eddie and his father were so relieved. A month later Eddie joined the Polish army and the Germans had been defeated. Eddie wrote a book called 17 Days In Treblinka. He goes around schools talking about his experience.
NEXT CHAPTER
At age seven, Gideon Frieder didn't know his family was in great danger. Giedeon's father, Abraham would help Jews escape from the Germans. One day when Abraham came home, he said that they Germans were taking over, and theres nothing that he can do. So Abraham decided to go somewhere to see if he can help anyone. Gideon, his mother, and his little sister and to escape from there. Gideon and his mom and little sister decided to go on a hike with soldiers. The soldier, Herzog, warned them that they shouldn't be doing this. The weather was really cold and that they wouldn't have a chance of making it. But they went anyway. While on their hike, bombs started to fall and there were airplanes all around them. They went into the forest to hide. They waited for a couple minutes. Gideon finally lifted his head when he heard the bombs stop. He rushed over to his mom and his little sister. He tried to wake them up, but the wouldn't. Gideon was terrified. Herzog came to him and took him back. He said that we have to continue now that the Germans know where we are. Gideon didn't want to go. He wanted to stay with his family.
WORDS
Ridiculed- make fun of
Inhumane- very cruel
Negotiating- to compromise with one another
Demoralizing- to deprive
Shrapnel- shell fragments
142-154 TWELFTH ENTRY 4/25/11
Herzog marched everyone up to a town where they made sure there were no enemy soldiers. They took Gideon to a house and told the owners that if you don't take care of this boy, we will kill you. The owners were Jozef and Paulina. Gideon called them aunt and uncle. Gideon had been shot in the leg and he didn't even know it. So Paulina took care of the wound for him. A couple days later, Josef was arrested. Their town was being bombed and their neighbors were already dead. When Josef was arrested, they took him to go see the guard. Jozef told him that the Partisans had demanded to sleep up in their attic where it is nice and warm. They stole our food he said. The day before, the guards came into Jozef's house and looked upstairs and there were sleeping bags and food up there. That's why Josef told him about the Partisans and them coming up to their attic. Jozef was released the next day. Jozef came up with a plan, to change Gideon's identity. Gideon's name was then changed to Jan Suchy. Jozef told him that his new religion would be Catholic. Gideon had to learn the Lord's Prayer because sometimes the Germans would ask the children to recite the Lord's Prayer to see if they were Jewish or not. In 1945, Gideon was taken home. Two men had arrived at where he was staying and told him that he could come back and go see his father. The war was over. Paulina said that you don't have to hide your real identity. Use it. Later Gideon was reunited with his father. Now Gideon teaches at a University and teaches a class about the Holocaust.
NEXT CHAPTER
Fourteen year old Hanci Hollander was on a train with her three brothers and her sister and her mom and dad. Hanci couldn't wait to get off. They were all crammed. Her brothers had to sleep standing and she had to sleep on the ground between them. Once she got off, she took a deep breath hoping that they had arrived somewhere nice. But she was totally wrong. Instead she smelt the terrible stench. The guard was yelling at everyone to get out. The guards had told them where to go. It was just Hanci her mom and her younger sister and she was separated from her dad and her brother. Before all that happened, the guard knocked on their door and told them that they had thirty minutes to get ready.
WORDS
Menacing- dangerous act or look
Prominent- standing out
Bewildered- very confused
Confiscated- to seize
Censored- to check over
155-167 THIRTEENTH ENTRY 4/25/11
Hanci and her family were put into a truck then transported to Beregszasz. Beregszasz is a ghetto that her family was taken to. Hanci got very emotional there because one of her brothers, Jozsi, had died there in a car accident. After they arrived in the ghetto, they were then taken to AuschwitzII- Birkenau. Hanci was with her mom only. Her younger sister was then sent to an area where she had to clean. They met up with each other later. After that, Hanci and her mom were put into barracks. Hanci began to sing with the other inmates. No one joined her. Only ten other girls joined her. One girl stood up on a chair then was whipped by a guard. Lots of times, Hanci and the other inmates had to line up in a row. Dr. Mengele decided which ones had to go into the gas chambers. Hanci and her mom began to sort through clothes of all the prisoners. Hanci then saw her aunt and uncles clothes. There was a guard there that was really nice to them. He showed them pictures of his granddaughter and said that this wasn't his choice. A couple days later, Hanci was sent to another camp. When she boarded the train, the guard was there. He told her that she was going to be sent to a gas chamber. He said that if you want to jump then do it other wise you will die. Hanci jumped. Fifteen minutes later, she heard guards coming. She hid in a culvert. They didn't find her.
WORDS
Reckoning- an acounting
Petrified- paralyzing astonishment
Grueling- very exhausting
Caressing- to express affection
Brood- to worry about
168-180 FOURTEENTH ENTRY 4/26/11
From there, Hanci fled to a nearby camp. She saw a light in there and didn't know if there were guards in there or not. Prisoners were in there. She stayed there that night. The next day they had to go to another camp. Hanci was going to Bergen-Belson. She was coming from Auschwitz. From there, Hanci was shipped off to work in a mine. She was 1,200 feet below the ground. She helped operate machinery and they were building engnes for the rockets. After that, she was sent to another concentration camp. In the boxcar, there was a women that reminded Hanci of her mother. She decided to help the woman by standing over her so that no one would fall on her. A couple minutes later, the woman had taken her last breath. When Hanci got off, the guards ordered everyone to dispose of all the dead ones. Hanci took the women and put her to the side. After that, they had to line up in a single file line to get some food. Hanci accidentally dropped her food and the guard struck her two times across the head with a rifle. When she woke up, she was on a train. The woman she was sitting next to told her what happened and that they were going to Denmark. She said that they were finally free. When Hanci got off, she cried tears of joy, and for the first time in a long time, she had a smile on her face. Hanci had made contact with her mother and found out that her brother, Viktor had died. When Hanci read this book that had said that the Holocaust never happened, she began to go to different places to share the news. She had told them that if i don't tell you, this might happen again.
WORDS
Breaching- to break something
Sabotage- to destroy something
Infraction- to violate something
Doling- payment given out
Allotment- a portion of something
FIFTEENTH ENTRY DIARY OF ANNE FRANK 4/27/11
Anne and her family are now into hiding. Anne is very talkative and tends to bug Peter a lot. Anne's sister Margot is rather very quite. She enjoys doing crosswords puzzles and she is very good at school. Margot gets better grades than Anne. Peter has a cat that he hides in the cabinet. No one really liked that there was a cat in the cabinet, but Peter could not just leave the cat behind. Mr. and Mrs. Van Daan are friends of the family. They are hiding with them to. Mr. and Mrs. Van Daan fight a lot and don't really talk to each other, and if they are, they are fighting. Peter is there son. Peter likes Anne but doesn't really know how to show it. Anne is really obnoxious towards him and he doesn't like it. Anne likes to really talk to people and doesn't realize that she is getting on everyones nerves. One day Anne tries on Mrs. Van Daan's coat and spills coffee all over it. Mr. and Mrs. Frank are Anne and Margot's parents. Mrs. Frank loves Anne deeply but Anne refuses to love her. Mr. Frank asks her why she doesn't love her mom and she told him that she loves her but just not that much. Over time Anne learns a lot. She becomes more mature about everything. She is more respective towards people and is not as talkative as she was before. Peter and Anne really like each other now and are better friends. Anne's last words in her diary were, "In spite of everything, I still believe that people really are good at heart."
WORDS
Conspicuous- very obvious
Loathe- to strongly dislike someone
Vile- disguisting
Indignantly- unworthy
Zeal- great enthusiasm



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